Religious Groups Have Double Obesity Rate by Middle Age

note: this study raises some fascinating questions. Do religious groups get fat because of bad diet, or because their beliefs causes them to “hold” psychic patterns (most likely FEAR) that cause their kidneys to contract and hold water in the body (= becomes fat over time)? – Michael

RELIGION DIET MAY MAKE YOU OBESE
Futurity
March 25, 2011

http://nhne-pulse.org/religious-people-more-likely-to-become-obese/

http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/religion-diet-may-make-you-obese/

Young adults who frequently attend religious activities are 50 percent more
likely to become obese by middle age as young adults with no religious
involvement.

By tracking participants’ weight gain over time, the study shows that normal
weight younger adults with high religious involvement become obese, rather
than obese adults becoming more religious.

“We don’t know why frequent religious participation is associated with
development of obesity. It’s possible that getting together once a week and
associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead
to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight
and obesity,” says Matthew Feinstein, a fourth-year medical student at
Northwestern University and the study’s lead investigator.

The study, which tracked 2,433 men and women for 18 years, found normal
weight young adults 20 to 32 years with a high frequency of religious
participation were 50 percent more likely to be obese by middle age after
adjusting for differences in age, race, sex, education, income, and baseline
body mass index.

High frequency of religious participation was defined as attending a
religious function at least once a week. Obesity is defined as having a body
mass index of 30 or higher. A woman who is 5’5 and 180 pounds has a BMI of
30, for example.

The men and women in the study were part of the Coronary Artery Risk
Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) multi-center study, supported by the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

“Obesity is the major epidemic that is facing the U.S. population right
now,” says senior study author Donald Lloyd-Jones, associate professor of
preventative medicine at Northwestern University.

“We know that people with obesity have substantial risks for developing
diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer, and of dying much
younger. So, we need to use all of the tools at our disposal to identify
groups at risk and to provide education and support to prevent the
development of obesity in the first place. Once the weight is on, it is much
harder to lose it.”

People with frequent religious involvement don’t necessarily have worse
overall health status than non-religious people — only that they are more
likely to become obese.

In fact, previous studies have shown religious people tend to live longer
than those who aren’t religious in part because they tend to smoke less.

“Here’s an opportunity for religious organizations to initiate programs to
help their congregations live even longer,” Feinstein says.

“The organizations already have groups of people getting together and
infrastructures in place that could be leveraged to initiate programs that
prevent people from becoming obese and treat existing obesity.”